Dark Reign
by The Ragin Pagan
Summary: After the defeat of Emperor Doviculus, a new threat rises to shake the peaceful yet still totally awesome lands of Metal.


Thunder tore at the glowing walls of the Road to Hell. The heat of the Titan's forge caused runes to shine through the rock, though the temperature didn't bother Eddie Riggs. The tunnel was uneven, and more often than not Eddie found himself rocketing along the walls in the Druid Plow.

Metal.

The tunnel suddenly opened up, ejecting the hotrod into a large, spacious cavern. High roadways crafted from the rock arched and curved over an endless sea of magma. In the background, the Titans were hard at work crafting works of unknown awesomeness for those they deemed worthy enough.

The tires of the Deuce screeched to a halt as Eddie reached a dead end. He climbed out of the car as an arc of lava plopped onto the plateau. It grew to a vaguely human shape before the Guardian of Metal emerged from the flames.

"Fuckin' hell, man!" he shouted, "I was just in the middle of my program!"

Eddie held up his hands, cracking a slight grin. "Hey man, I didn't know," he explained, "I just came to hang out."

"Hang out?" the Guardian repeated in surprise, "Don't you got enough to do up on the surface? You already cleaned my shop out, unless you want something lame for a challenge."

Eddie briefly imagined plowing into a Hextadon with any less armor than the Deuce already had. Bad idea. "Look," he said as he pulled a six pack out of the car, "I never did thank you for helping me beat Emperor Dick-u-lous."

"Pfft!" The Guardian waved it aside, "It was nuthin. That wanker didn't know Metal from Rap. Did have a sweet guitar though – Oh hey, what do you know!?" Flames sprouted to life as the Guardian pulled the four-necked guitar – the Hydra – into existence with a maniacal laugh.

Eddie's eyes went wide as he dropped the beer. "Oh, dude!" he exclaimed, "How'd you get your hands on that?"

"Duh!" the Guardian said with a grin, "I am the Guardian of fuckin' Metal! You think Emperor S&M deserved this guitar after trying to keep good Metal down? Nah…"

Eddie shrugged. "Ah well, I used Clementine to kick his ass anyways."

"Look, it's good you came down here anyways," the Guardian said, "That little bird of yours has got herself in trouble again."

"What?" Eddie said is mild shock, "What now? I already kicked major demon ass, what's left?"

"What did I tell you before, man!?" the Guardian shouted, "Fuckin' figure it out! Oh, and leave the booze here; I'm parched in this heat."

"Alright, alright, alright!" Eddie complained as he hoped back into his hotrod, "I'll go see what Ophs has dug up."

"Go kick some ass, man!" the Guardian shouted after him as the hotrod sped towards the surface. He turned to pick up the pack of beer, only to find that it was missing. "Oh, come on now!" he complained, "I'm here for fuckin' eternity, you could at least let me enjoy it!"

Eddie catapulted from the Motor Forge, splattering a Ground Urchin as he roared across the plains. He sped quickly towards Bladehenge as his fingers tightened nervously around the steering wheel.

The Deuce skidded to a halt when Eddie reached the giant stones surrounding the settlement. He leapt from his vehicle, rushing towards the gate with his axe drawn.

"Eddie!" a female voice called.

Eddie dropped his axe in surprise as Ophelia nearly bowled him over. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and gave him a large bear-hug.

"Hey, kiddo," he said in surprise, "What'cha up to?" He quickly glanced around for any signs of danger, though he found none.

"We've been planning a keger," she informed Eddie, "Though Lita has been difficult to work with."

"She don't trust you because of what happened?" Eddie asked, referring to Ophelia _really _becoming a Teardrinker.

"Yes…" The girl said. She was used to Lita disliking her, but this time the warrior had good reason.

"Ah, forget her," Eddie said, "I'll vouch for you. Say, have you seen any demons or Glam-heads running around?"

"No," Ophelia said with a raised brow.

"Rampaging Tollusks?"

"None."

"Weird creepy Druid dudes?"

"Eddie," Ophelia finally said, "What are you worried about? You defeated Doviculus, there's not going to be any trouble for a while."

"Alright," Eddie said with a smirk, "That's good. I was getting tired of kicking demon-ass." His eyes narrowed though as he saw a bright glint of metal by the beach. Metal wasn't the odd thing, but Eddie knew the metal by the sea to be dull and rusted; this metal was bright and gold.

"The hell?" he wondered, "C'mon, Ophs, let's go check that out."


End file.
